We radioed the port authority about six hours before arrival, using VHF. Earlier calls on HF were not answered. We were told to proceed to the harbour but to call again before entering. The operator told us then where we could anchor. He also wanted us to call him when we were in the channel. After we anchored we called the operator again and reported our GPS position. This was all for the day, as it was already evening.

Next morning we were boarded by Coast Guard. They checked our safety equipment and cleared us. As there was a large cruiser nearby, the Immigration and Customs came to us from there. They were taken to our boat by the cruiser's dinghy. There were plenty of forms to fill in and many copies of passports, crew lists and inventory taken. All was however done within the morning. We had to take the officials back to shore in our dinghy.

VISA Indian authorities require that visa is obtained before arrival to the country (we are Australians). We had the visa and a 15 day permit to sail in Andaman Islands from Bangkok Indian Embassy. Getting the permit was a mistake. Boats without one received 30 day permit on arrival. We could not extend the permit in Port Blair thus we had to leave after 15 days.

The last procedure was to check in with the Harbour Master. We hired a taxi (150 Rupiahs per hour) and the driver took us to the office. It was also a relatively sipmple task.

Checking out

We checked out in reverse order than checking in, starting with the Harbour Master, then Customs and Immigration. All that was done on land and we had to hire a taxi to visit the relevant offices. Taxi driver knew exactly what to do. He even stopped at a copping shop as he knew we would need a copy of one of the forms that we were given to us by Customs. Immigration officer allowed us to stay one night longer than the permit stated. They required however we would leave before 8AM and they would have to stamp our passports that morning. We arranged for them to be at the jetty at 6AM and they were there on time.

Warning

There is a boy who offers or rather demands to look after the dighy at the jetty. He charges 200 Rupiahs per day. The price was 50 Rupiahs just a year ago. Some sailors refused his service and they were threatened by the boy. Nothing however happened. There is a problem with leaving the dinghy for whole day at the jetty. The jetty is used by other boats during the day and the dinghy sometimes has to be moved. I guess the best way is to negotiate with the boy a better price. Complains to the port authorities may also help in long term.

Anchorages

The following is a list of places where we anchored when crusing the islands: